Analogue
by NanbeiNoHana
Summary: Analogue: something that is analogous or similar to something else. Who said they're not alike? NejiSaku, ONESHOT


**A/N:**Yay, another NejiSaku!

**Disclaimer:** Yesterday I bought a scratch card. I scratched it… and won all Naruto rights! Now, what are the chances it really happened? So I still own nothing.

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**Analogue**

Admiration

During their first chuunin exam, Neji was looking for Lee when he saw one of his worst nightmares come true. In five seconds, a beautiful pink mane was reduced to almost nothing. He instinctively caressed his long coffee brown tresses, wondering if he would have the guts to do the same if his life was in danger. Soon he found out that Haruno Sakura was, in one aspect, braver than him.

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When 7-year-old Sakura first learned about the Byakugan, she couldn't help but think it was just like the Sword of Omens. She loved ThunderCats, so she started to secretly venerate those people with white eyes. She even swore to herself she would one day marry one of the Hyuugas, so she could say 'husband, give me sight beyond sight'.

Twenty years later, during her 3rd wedding anniversary celebration, she told that to Neji. He looked deep into his wife's eyes and smiled, trying his best to hide the fact that he didn't know what ThunderCats were.

Hitai-ate

It took Sakura two more exams to finally become a chuunin. When she was promoted, Lee, who already was a chuunin, gave her his red hitai-ate. She gave him a beaming smile, promptly tying it to her head.

"Thank you, Lee, but it doesn't mean we're getting married." The boy fell on the ground, anime style.

From afar, a pair of white eyes was paying attention to them.

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Training under the sun in a particularly hot summer day wasn't the best of the ideas. That damned juin was very sensitive to heat, so Neji tossed his hitai-ate away from him. When he fetched it back, he noticed it had some pink petals scattered over it, and it smelled like his teammate's perfume. 'Oh no, Tenten put a love charm on it – again.'

It was the third hitai-ate he had to get rid of.

Firstimpression

Right before their first chuunin exam:

'How dare this white-eyed freak insult Sasuke-kun?' the Sword of Omens was tossed somewhere in the back of her mind. All she could think about was the Sharingan wielder.

'So this is the girl Lee keeps talking about? She must be smart, she saw through the genjutsu.' He remembered that, because later that day he copied all the answers from her.

Pets

The best thing in having a pet turtle, in Sakura's opinion, was that it wouldn't run away from her. And even if it tried, she would be able to retrieve it easily. But, when she took her turtle to a walk in the park – "Mom, I think Tigress is a bit fat. I'm taking her out for some exercise" –, it went missing and was nowhere to be found. If she wasn't good enough to take care of a turtle… She solemnly forbade herself from having kids.

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Neji never had a pet in his whole life. He felt like a pet to the Main Branch, so he would never make another being feel that way. Instead, he raised violets. Years later, not even the puppy eyes of his wife and three children made him change his mind.

Fan club

Sometimes Neji wanted to stay beside Sakura the whole day, so he could scare her fan boys away. Some of them pretended to be sick only to be near her at the hospital, and it annoyed him to no end.

Sometimes Sakura wanted to stay beside Neji the whole day, so she could beat the crap out of any fan girl who got near him. Some of them gave him presents and love letters, and it infuriated her to no end.

Their fan clubs united forces and tried to sabotage their wedding. The Konoha hospital had never been so full.

Colors

Someone organized a pool regarding Sakura's favorite color. The most popular choices were pink and green, closely followed by red. Neji bet on blue and won nearly one hundred thousand yen. Alone.

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"Neji, which one should I wear? This one or this one?" Sakura held two dresses, one red and one green.

"Sakura, they are both alike."

"Oh my God… You are colorblind!"

Fear

Sakura was afraid of a lot of things. She freaked every time she saw a bloodsucker. She changed her bed for a futon because every night she could swear she saw _something_ coming out from under her bed. She couldn't stand heights. But when she had to face her greatest fear, she found strength enough to fight an extremely dangerous S-class criminal and save her beloved Neji from death. She couldn't let her greatest fear come true.

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Neji was afraid of nothing. He saw the Grim Reaper before his eyes countless times. He fought the most powerful enemies. He dared to ignore Sakura's medical orders. But that night, feeling the light weight of that tiny little box in his pocket, he was scared as hell. He wouldn't survive if she said no to him.

Hospital

Room 138 was the second home to a certain Hyuuga prodigy. He spent almost the same amount of time there as he spent back in his family's property. As much as he hated that God-forsaken place, the constant care of one pink-haired medic made the hospital a little less unbearable. Maybe more than that. She was the only one he allowed to touch him.

"Hyuuga, I'll start thinking that you're in love with me" she said one day, while healing his left leg.

Little did she know.

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Sakura opened her eyes and saw light green walls. It took her a minute or two until she realized she was in a hospital room. With a hospital gown. Laid on a hospital bed. 'What the hell am I doing here?' she asked herself, trying to get up. Her legs felt like jelly and she collapsed on the floor.

When she woke up again, she saw a pair of white eyes in front of her.

"Did you try to run away from the bed, again?" he asked, highly amused.

"It sucks to be here all the time" she pouted.

"So now you know how I feel."

From that day on, she tortured him less when he was there.

Birthday

Sakura hated her birthday. Every year, when the dreaded day was coming, something really bad happened and spoiled everything. For example, two days before her 8th birthday, Ino ended their friendship. It was a week before her 13th birthday when Sasuke left Konoha. Three days before she turned 17, her father had a heart attack and there was nothing she could have done for him. So, ten days before her 22nd birthday, she told Neji that she loved him very much, but she would isolate herself from the world until the day following her birthday. At least that year she would be miserable because of herself, not because someone else.

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In his bitter years, Neji hated his birthdays because he would never be able to celebrate them with his parents, since they were both dead. That's why Sakura surprised him with a child's party for his 26th birthday. To say the least, he loved it. And didn't try to hide it from their friends.

Tears

Hyuuga Neji wasn't an emotional man. But when each of his three children was born, he couldn't hold back two or three silent tears.

On the other hand, Hyuuga Sakura never bothered to hide her tears. Except one day, when she was 19 and still Haruno. That day she saw Kiba, on whom she had a crush, walking hand in hand with Hinata. She swallowed her self-pity tears and promised herself she would never cry over a man again. Neji made that promise easy to keep.

Bloodline limit

Since her childhood (remember the ThunderCats?), Sakura thought that Byakugan was the 8th world wonder. Sometimes she wondered why she had to be born in a civilian family, without a bloodline limit or anything exclusive except the large forehead. Which, she soon noticed, she passed to her children. At least they were healthy.

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He was really proud of his powerful Byakugan. The most powerful in all Hyuuga history. But sometimes he envied Sakura's perfect chakra control. She made every jutsu look so easy, even the most advanced ones. Luckily their kids inherited this ability. Neji often thought that those three little brats would one day be invincible.

Teammates

'Perfect. A freak unable to use chakra, and a closet tomboyish fan girl. And a freakier sensei as the icing of the cake.' Neji looked at Team Gai wondering how he would survive his genin days with those three. As soon as he was promoted to jounin, he missed those days dearly.

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If Sakura knew that Sasuke would leave Konoha seeking for power, she would have never fallen in love with him. But she didn't know. Now, she still felt bad about how she mistreated Naruto all the time. If only she could turn back time…

Sake

Shikamaru challenged Sakura to a drinking contest. Ten bottles of sake later, the Nara boy collapsed. The pink-haired medic was tipsy, but still awake. And she wanted to drink more.

"Hyuuga! Come here and sit your princely ass here. I dare you to drink more than I did!"

"No. I plan on keeping my liver healthy for a long time"

"Sissy."

But the real reason was different from that lame excuse. Sake loosened his tongue, and he would eventually say things he would regret. Things like how she haunted his dreams every night, dressed as an ero-nurse chasing him through the hospital.

Sweets

Contrary to popular belief, Neji did like sweets. But only when said food was given to him by his favorite doctor. Actually he would eat anything as long as she was the one feeding him.

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Four in the morning. Sakura finally got home after a weary shift. All she wanted was open the fridge and eat the strawberry cake she bought specially for this kind of situation. But there was no sign of strawberry cake.

"NEEEEEEEEEEJIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Heartbreak

Sakura had her heart broken several times during her life. She cried, the stopped eating, but eventually her heart would mend again. Now she was thankful for Neji loving her so much. She wouldn't know how to start over if he broke up with her. Luckily she never had to.

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Since Sakura was the first and only woman Neji ever loved, he never had his heart broken.

"Lucky bastard" she said playfully, kissing his temple and cuddling beside him.

Lucky indeed.

Seasons

Neji's favorite season was spring. He always took inspiration from it. No matter how hard winter had been, during spring life would spread as if nothing happened. But when Sakura asked him, in the beginning of their relationship, he told her that his favorite season was autumn. He didn't want her to think he was a girly man.

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Sakura's favorite season was autumn. She always took inspiration from it. No matter how sunny summer had been, during autumn life would prepare itself for hard times. But when Neji asked her, right after she asked him, she told him that her favorite season was spring. She didn't want him to think she was a melancholic woman.

Memories

Sakura loved pictures. She said they were the best way to keep her memories. Her photo albums seemed to have no end, and they had a huge closet only for them. Sometimes, when Neji was out on long missions, she would spend hours looking at her past, remembering all the good moments she shared with her family and friends. But her favorite album was her wedding one. Every time they had a fight, she would flap those now yellowish pages and remember one of the happiest days of her life. It made miracles on her temper.

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Neji wasn't much of a nostalgic man. But sometimes, when Sakura was at the hospital, he would sneak into the photo closet and look at the beautiful memories they had. One day she found out that he liked the pictures, too, but said nothing.

Future

She always imagined herself as a talented doctor and teacher – yes, she wanted to teach people how to heal others.

He always imagined himself as a strong soldier to his country. Nothing honored him more than fighting for Konoha.

What they never imagined was that they would be celebrating their 40th anniversary, surrounded by their children and grandchildren, as well as their friends, students and colleagues. At that time, they stopped thinking about the future and started worrying only about the present. After all, they couldn't know when would be their last day. And it eventually came, but not before they had great-grandchildren.

"Neji, our life was full of surprises, ne?"

He didn't answer.

"Neji?" She nudged him. No answer. "Neji? Say something! Wake up!" there was concern in her voice.

"Booh! I was only playing dead!"

She smacked his head – just like the good old times.


End file.
